Cancer is one of the most life threatening diseases. Cancer is a condition in which cells in a part of the body experience out-of-control growth. According to latest data from American Cancer Society, it is estimated there will be 1.67 million new cases of cancer in USA in 2014. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States (second only to heart disease) and will claim more than 585,000 lives in 2014. In fact, it is estimated that 50% of all men and 33% of all women living in the United States will develop some type of cancer in their lifetime. Therefore cancer constitutes a major public health burden and represents a significant cost in the United States. These figures are reflected elsewhere across most countries globally, although the types of cancer and relative proportions of the population developing the cancers vary depending upon many different factors such including genetics and diet.
For decades surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation were the established treatments for various cancers. Patients usually receive a combination of these treatments depending upon the type and extent of their disease. But chemotherapy is the most important option for cancer patients when surgical treatment (i.e. the removal of diseased tissue) is impossible. While surgery is sometimes effective in removing tumors located at certain sites, for example, in the breast, colon, and skin, it cannot be used in the treatment of tumors located in other areas, such as the backbone, nor in the treatment of disseminated hematologic cancers include cancers of the blood and blood-forming tissues (such as the bone marrow). They include multiple myeloma, lymphoma and leukemia. Radiation therapy involves the exposure of living tissue to ionizing radiation causing death or damage to the exposed cells. Side effects from radiation therapy may be acute and temporary, while others may be irreversible. Chemotherapy involves the disruption of cell replication or cell metabolism. It is used most often in the treatment of breast, lung, and testicular cancer. One of the main causes of failure in this treatment of cancer is the development of drug resistance by the cancer cells, a serious problem that may lead to recurrence of disease or even death. Thus, more effective cancer treatments are needed.
Multiple myeloma is a significant and growing problem. It is a cancer arising from plasma cells. Normal plasma cells produce immunoglobulins to fight infection. In myeloma, the plasma cells become abnormal, multiply uncontrollably and release only one type of anttibody—known as paraprotein—which has no useful function. It tends to accumulate in the bone marrow and circulate in the blood and can be detected in the urine as well. It affects multiple sites in the body (hence ‘multiple’ myeloma) where bone marrow is normally active in adults. The main forms of multiple myeloma (or myeloma as it is also referred to) are active myeloma, plasmacytoma, light chain myeloma and non-secretory myeloma. The number of new cases of myeloma in the US in 2011 was 6.1 per 100,000 men and women per year and the percentage survival rate beyond five years was 45%. It is estimated that the number of new cases in the US in 2014 will be over 24,000 (1.4% of all cancer cases), while the number of deaths in 2014 will be just over 11,000 (1.9% of all cancer cases).
In WO-A-2010/085377, the compound of formula I was shown to have excellent in vitro activity against multiple myeloma cell lines, with activities in the range of ×35-100 greater than the activity shown by bendamustin.
Leukemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called “blasts”. Instead of producing normal, functioning white blood cells to fight infection the body produces large numbers of these non-functional blasts. Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases. In turn, it is part of the even broader group of diseases affecting the blood, bone marrow and lymphoid system, which are all known as hematological neoplasms. The most common forms are acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), with less common forms including hairy cell leukemia (HCL), T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL), large granular lymphocytic leukemia and T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is estimated that the number of new cases in the United States in 2014 will be over 52,000 (3.1% of all new cancers in the US) with over 24,000 deaths (4.1% of all cancer deaths in the US). The percentage survival rate over five years is currently 57.2%, a figure significantly lower than for many other cancers, with the survival rate over five years for acute myeloid leukemia being particularly low at only 20%.
Lymphoma is a cancer of the lymphatic system. There are two main types of lymphoma, namely Hodgkin lymphoma and non Hodgkin lymphoma.
Non Hodgkin lymphoma is the more common form of lymphoma. The lymphatic system runs throughout the body, and it is therefore possible to find non Hodgkin lymphoma in almost all parts of the body. In patients with non Hodgkin lymphoma, some of their white blood cells (lymphocytes) divide abnormally. They do not have any resting time like normal cells and they start to divide continuously, so too many are produced. They do not naturally die off as they usually do. These cells start to divide before they are fully mature and therefore cannot fight infection as normal white blood cells do. All the abnormal lymphocytes start to collect in the lymph nodes or other places such as the bone marrow or spleen. They can then grow into tumours and begin to cause problems within the lymphatic system or the organ in which they are growing. For example, if a lymphoma starts in the thyroid gland it can affect the normal production of thyroid hormones. There are many different types of non Hodgkin lymphoma. They can be classified in several different ways. One way is by the type of cell affected. In non Hodgkin lymphoma two types of lymphocyte can be affected—B cells and T cells. This is classified as B cell lymphoma or a T cell lymphoma. Most people with non Hodgkin lymphoma have B cell lymphomas. T cell lymphomas are more common in teenagers and young adults.
The cells of Hodgkin lymphoma have a particular appearance under the microscope. These cells are called Reed Sternberg cells. Non Hodgkin lymphomas do not have Reed Sternberg cells. It is important for doctors to be able to tell the difference between Hodgkin lymphoma and non Hodgkin lymphoma cells as they are two different diseases. In Hodgkin lymphoma, it is cells in the lymph nodes that have become cancerous.
The % survival rate over 5 years in 2009 for patients with non Hodgkin lymphoma was 63%, while the survival rate for those with Hodgkin lymphoma over the same period was 83%.
Breast cancer is a cancer that forms in tissues of the breast. The most common type of breast cancer is ductal carcinoma, which begins in the lining of the milk ducts (thin tubes that carry milk from the lobules of the breast to the nipple). Another type of breast cancer is lobular carcinoma, which begins in the lobules (milk glands) of the breast. Breast cancers can be classified into sub-groups as claudin-low tumors, basal-like tumors, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive tumors, luminal A tumors and luminal B tumors. Invasive breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread from where it began in the breast ducts or lobules to surrounding normal tissue. Breast cancer occurs in both men and women, although male breast cancer is rare. In 2014, it is estimated that there will be nearly 233,00 new cases in women and 2,400 in men, with 40,00 female deaths and just over 400 male deaths.
Approximately 15 out of every 100 women with breast cancer have triple-negative breast cancer, i.e. are estrogen negative, are progesterone negative and are HER2 negative. Recurrent triple-negative breast cancer is a condition of high unmet medical need, due to its aggressive biology, fast development of drug resistance and lack of molecular targets. Until now, chemotherapy remains the standard of care for advanced triple-negative breast cancer with a poor median overall survival.
In WO-A-2010/085377, the compound of formula I below is disclosed. It is a first-in-class dual-functional alkylating-HDACi fusion molecule which potently inhibits the HDAC pathway.

Biological assays showed that the compound of formula I potently inhibits HDAC enzyme (HDAC1 IC50 of 9 nM) and it has been shown to have excellent in vitro activity against multiple myeloma cell lines.
There is a need for more effective cancer treatments, including the treatment of breast cancer and of hematologic cancers such as multiple myeloma, lymphoma or leukemia. Currently, these conditions affect many people and the medium to long-term prognosis is not good for many of these conditions.